The present invention concerns a device for cutting sheet materials, and more particularly concerns an automated sheet cutting device having a blade arrangement that provides improved blade life and further that assists in moving cut sheet sections away from the cutting blade.
Sheet cutting devices, sometimes called "sheeting machines", are often used to cut sections of sheet material from a roll of sheet material. Some of these machines use long blades that extend across the width of the sheet material. However, the thinness and flexible characteristics of the sheet material make the cutting process very sensitive to blade wear or surface defects along the cutting edges of the blades. Thus, the blades must typically be sharpened or otherwise maintained more often than desired. Further, where non-linear or shaped blades are used, great care must be used when sharpening the blades to assure that the proper shape is given the cutting edges.
Aside from blade maintenance, the sheet materials are usually very thin, flexible polymeric or paper sheets that are not electrically conductive. Static build up and/or small defects in the sheets along the cut line on the sheets can cause jamming, bunching, snagging, and the like. This causes sheet material to be wasted, and also results in work stoppages while the jammed material is cleared. Thus, a sheet cutting device having an improved blade arrangement and mechanism solving the aforementioned problems is desired.